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All the Things we Leave Behind by Riel Nason, Review ☆☆☆☆☆

“Or maybe it’s that we keep some of a loved one’s possessions after they’ve died as a way to deal with what we can’t understand. We want to have an object they owned out where we can see it. We want to be sure we know where a few of their things are, because we don’t truly know–can’t fathom–where they themselves have gone.”

This morning on my way to work I happened to pass by 3 deer walking along side the highway headed into the woods. My initial reaction was oh, how beautiful! My second reaction was a heart-wrenching fear of the boneyard.

There are 2 words only to describe this book;

Haunting & Beautiful.

It’s almost impossible for me to read a book where dialogue is scarce. That wasn’t the case for this read. Every word kept you reading. Every page kept you turning. And every chapter kept you breathing. Parts of this story will take bits & pieces of your soul. It sounds scary, but it’s not. The empathy you experience is like no other. The curiosity that takes over & all you wish to do is to jump into that book and help; whether it be Violet, Bliss, their parents, or the Vaughn’s, the animals of the boneyard, Speckles. Your human instincts want to fight to take pain away.

“I think that’s all that Bliss had gone looking for–a more permanent happiness, if such a thing exists. Bliss wondered if changing things outside would help change things inside him too.”

….and then you close the book and realize it’s fiction.

But the feeling won’t leave you. You understand fully exactly what Bliss was going through. You feel you will never unsee it.

This is a book that will stay with you for years. This will be one of the kind that leaves a mark, and alters your beliefs. And I’m so happy to have read it.